


Gotcha!

by chaisan



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M, Festivals, Fluff and Humor, Halloween, Haunted Houses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:22:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27189265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaisan/pseuds/chaisan
Summary: With Autumn falling upon Republic City, everyone gets in the spirit of the spookiness. Korra and Tarrlok go into a haunted temple.
Relationships: Korra/Tarrlok (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Gotcha!

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So I know I just finished Private Practice LMAO but because it’s nearing Halloween, I’ve been participating in kinktober with some friends in the art community, and really didn’t think about doing so with writing. I’m not saying I’m going to do kinktober prompts (maybe next year if I’m still writing for Korrlok) but I definitely wanted to get into the spirit of it and do something fun with Korra/Tarrlok. It’s all in good fun :PP
> 
> Also WOW !! It’s short AND I’m not writing smut :c
> 
> Feedback of any kind is welcomed and appreciated! Enjoy!

From what she gathered, this festival wasn’t anything like the ones she experienced in either Water Tribes. Sure, there were games and there were food stalls propped up along either side of the pathways, and kids were screaming past her with their prizes in hand with nothing more than excitement crossing their pudgy features, just like any other festival she attended. Yet this didn’t have the same feel as the North or South.

Was it because Republic City was an amalgamation of different cultures? Probably. Was it because she didn’t know anyone and was trying to figure out the point of carving a pumpkin? Maybe. Or was it just the Councilman that oh-so-coincidentally discovered her waiting for Asami and took the opportunity to run his mouth again. Korra went with that, considering it seemed like he loved the sound of his own voice.

She placed a pinch of her cotton candy in her mouth, tasting unrelenting sweetness and feeling it dissolve at the touch of her tongue. It was all she could do to keep her mind occupied rather than listen to Tarrlok who went on and on about flattery and whatnot. She wasn’t quite sure, she wasn’t paying any heed to him.

Instead, she took in the sights around her as he followed along like a pup. A question was at the tip of her tongue. _Why are you following me?_ She wanted to ask, but she opted to keep quiet. Maybe he’d understand she was waiting for Asami. He was smart, right? But then again, the longer she considered the man walking alongside her, the more she realized how persistent he was.

As if she could forget him wanting her on his Task Force.

Korra rolled her eyes and nodded at the appropriate times to the sound of his annoyingly pleasant voice, but Tarrlok could see right through her. He continued, regardless. He didn’t speak of anything in particular - just to gauge how long it’d take her to realize he was talking nonsense. However, he mirrored her in soaking up their surroundings as he absentmindedly mentioned the weather and what vague plans he had of the night after seeing to it that everything was running smoothly. 

And so far, it was.

Families were picking pumpkins strewn about on a large patch of grass, while others posed in front of a photographer with their bulbous squash. Some played games in hopes of receiving a large stuffed toy, while others ordered food from all over the world.

One stand caught his eye - one that had quite a large stuffed polar bear dog with a carved pumpkin on it’s head perched from the top shelf - yet the idea that halfheartedly formed at the back of his mind in regards to the young Avatar at his side abruptly died when Korra tossed the empty bag of her cotton candy into a garbage bin.

No, no, no. That’d be inappropriate, in any case.

Korra slowed her pace until they ultimately stopped and nodded towards a shoddy temple evidently built in a few days' time, effectively cutting him off. “Why’re there so many people lined up to get into a temple? Actually, why’s there a temple in the middle of the park?” Her brows furrowed in bewilderment. “Was that _always_ there?” She added incredulously, pointing towards the rickety building to their right.

Truthfully, it should’ve been done better, though that was inconsequential when he and Tenzin couldn’t agree whether or not a haunted temple or mansion should occupy the space. The bald man won in the end, but that wasn’t anything to speak of at the moment.

Instead, Tarrlok released an exhale of amusement. “It’s just another form of a haunted house, Avatar. It’s a part of the festival.”

Korra narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms underneath her bust, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “A what?”

Judging by the look on her face, the question, as adorable as it had been, was genuine. Tarrlok didn’t know what to make of the fact that she was undeniably clueless. Was he amused? Certainly. Was he going to tease her about it? Perhaps.

Attempting to stifle the smile curling at the corners of his lips, Tarrlok cocked his head. “You’ve never heard of a haunted house?” He asked.

“...No. Should I have?” She prodded slowly.

As tempting as it was to lie about it - perhaps conjuring a fib of it being a scavenger hunt of some sort - he cleared his throat and fully studied her. How odd that she’s never heard of these tales. “A haunted house is merely a house, or in this case a temple, propped up somewhere. It can be fake or real and typically people go scampering off in the house while others scare them. It’s nothing more than to frighten people and get adrenaline pumping, which I for one, do not understand.” He explained. He rarely indulged in this type of fun, or if that was even considered amusing in the first place, but that’s what he assumed.

The few times he did indulge in it was something he’d rather not like to think about when those scary movers were just up and coming to the United Republic. Frightening things they were, from what he saw. A few minutes worth of voiceless creatures and animated victims. Vampires and aliens and whatnot. Perhaps he’d have to bring that up to Korra another time...

“Hm,” Korra pursed her lips and nodded in thought. They stood there for little more than a minute in relative silence except for the cacophony of the crowd around them, before he had to dodge a child from bumping into his leg with the way she carried a large stuffed wolf toy. When he gazed back at the young Avatar, she turned to him with a mischievous grin. “Let’s go.” She said, gesturing for him to follow.

“Pardon?”

Korra chuckled, already a few steps ahead of him and edging towards the relatively quick line filtering through the haunted temple. “I _mean_ , let’s go. You know, into the temple.” She clarified as if he were a fool.

Despite himself, his feet moved on their own - just as they had been since he found her - yet he couldn’t deny his bewilderment was flagrant enough for the young Avatar to notice. “Why me if I may ask?” Of course, he wasn’t complaining, but their relationship wasn’t necessarily one that’d be played at outside the context of politics, considering they were public figures. She regarded him as an unscrupulous politician - to which she’s made abundantly clear - and he regarded her as a fickle teenager in return.

However, the reason why he subconsciously responded to her every whim certainly wasn’t due to his hidden desire for her, right? No. Certainly not.

Regardless, Korra merely shrugged. “Well, I don’t know anyone else and Asami isn’t here yet so yeah… you.” She smiled knowingly. It wasn’t a smile he wanted to see, truthfully, since it was obvious she was plotting something.

But that didn’t matter.

They stood side by side in line and each step closer to the entrance Korra could sense the man beside her tensing up further and further. He folded his arms across his chest, his shoulders drawn up and muscles utterly tense with a pout pulled at his lips. She opened her mouth intending to add a quip on that detail, but he shook his head and eyed the tawdry temple in something akin to disgust as they got closer and closer. Why disgust? Korra didn’t know, but it was probably because of his pride… or maybe even something else.

“This is a horrible idea.” He uttered.

Korra licked her lips and chuckled. “What, are you afraid?” She teased.

Tarrlok scoffed, though he tried to hide the fact that he was. “Believe it or not, Avatar, I’m not afraid of anything.”

“Mhm, right.” Korra responded with a knowing smile.

When they entered the temple, her cheeks ached from how long she was smiling to herself. She didn’t know why she was having so much fun with someone like Tarrlok, especially when she knew what he was capable of doing. The manipulation, the coercing, let alone the fact that he was an infuriating man.

Regardless of it, she pushed her qualms with the man aside, knowing full well it was undeniably amusing to see him squirm from nothing in particular.

Other than the people hiding and waiting for them to pass, it was obvious this was created to have an air of something daunting right around the corner. Like some dark spirit about to taunt them or some decaying corpse about to eat their soul. Korra couldn’t deny it was creepy. The dim lighting, the creaking wood underneath their feet, the spider webs that grazed their skin and caused Tarrlok to visibly bristle. A chuckle bubbled at the back of her throat, though she managed to stifle it by biting her lower lip and continued nonetheless.

It seemed he didn’t even notice, regardless. He was too focused on what lurked around the corner rather than her shooting him amused, furtive glances over her shoulder.

As much as he could easily stroll through a crowd and grab their attention with a single smirk, the Tarrlok that strode alongside her was utterly stiff, walking with movements completely jerky. It also didn’t help when she caught sight of the dip of tension between his brows… as if that was anything compared to the attentive pale blue darting from one place to another.

They passed a few unnerving statues, one of which was completely fake, given the person moved a fraction that caused Tarrlok to clutch at his chest. Yet he managed to brush it aside.

Oddly enough, the temple wasn’t completely indoors as she imagined. No. There was a long hallway that nearly curled around the perimeter of the temple, but they were abruptly taken to a small maze of sorts in a garden. Gravel and sand sifted underneath their weight, but the fog knowingly created by a waterbender in the back - she could see a few hands pushing mist to and fro around the area from behind a set of stairs - obscured their view that it was difficult to see where they were going, much to Tarrlok’s dismay.

Korra swore she’d never seen the Councilman this taut before, and she doubted that this’d happen again when his jaw clenched as the leaves around them rustled from some disturbance. Was it the wind or was someone hiding amongst the bushes? She went with the former because a small ring was heard to their left.

Suddenly, a large hand was grasping at her arm in nothing short of pure fear.

Korra cackled and studied to the Councilman’s profile as his eyes bugged out and strayed on a swaying windchime hanging beside him. “Not scared, huh?” She teased.

Tarrlok scoffed, but the tone laced in it was utterly transparent. “Certainly not. Just… the cold.” He lied, glancing around them.

Slowly nodding and narrowing her eyes, Korra harrumphed in response. “So…. You’re grabbing me because… you’re cold.” She drawled, skeptical.

At once, it seemed that he just realized he was touching her.

Tarrlok cleared his throat and hastily pulled his hand away from her as if he was burned and instead, opted to smooth his palms down the fabric of his vest. As much as a quip was at the tip of her tongue simply because this was so amusing to see Tarrlok act in such a way, the pink tinge on his ruddy cheeks threw her off a moment. Why was he blushing? Probably just embarrassed that he was scared, right? “I apologize. Let’s just move on.” He uttered quickly, already walking away from her, but not too far away and silently waiting for her to follow suit.

With a long sigh and a shake of her head, Korra returned to his side. It wasn’t long after they continued their trek that a few people were jumping out and scaring them from the tall bushes. Some had makeup and fake blood dripping from their face, and some were dressed as malevolent spirits. At least from what she remembered from her studies.

Tarrlok tensed and bristled, slightly flinching in response, while she felt almost unfazed by the jumps and scares when all they were met with was a smile of awe and amusement from her.

They were reaching the end from what she gathered. The closer they got towards the end of the maze and towards the inside of the temple once more, the more she heard people screaming out of genuine fear. Did they miss a scare at the beginning? Or was that just the people dressed as monsters scaring them? Korra wasn’t sure and Tarrlok was already more than tense from the fact that the slightest gust of wind would knock him over.

Piercing pale blue darted around them as they walked up the creaky wooden steps and back up into the rundown temple.

With the fog dissipating, Tarrlok felt himself relax the barest bit as he caught sight of a sliding door that was wide open for them, as well as people walking to and fro from the food stalls. Fantastic. A breath of relief escaped him when he felt his muscles relax in accordance. He managed to get through all that and he was worrying over the worst.

Abruptly, as they passed the threshold to a decaying hallway, he and Korra felt scaly hands grasp at their palms as a screech was heard between them. Korra flinched, hastily pulling her hand away, though that was nothing compared to Tarrlok’s reaction. A high-pitched scream left the man as if he were genuinely afraid of what was behind them and nearly jumped a few inches off the ground.

The Councilman didn’t even brave a glance behind him, and instead, quickly made his exit with a cloud of dust following him. 

The gaiety couldn’t be contained because Korra tried to follow Tarrlok already righting the few strands of hair out of place and pouting outside on the grass while she nearly crawled to the exit, tears obscuring her vision as laughter rumbled through her. Her cheeks ached and heat crept up her neck in mirth. 

It was when she managed to clear her sore throat and her sides pinched from the constant laughter that Korra wiped the tears away with the back of her hands and met Tarrlok at his front. The occasional shudder of giggles shivered through her, yet she bit the inside of her cheek to refrain from injuring the man’s pride and ego any further. 

Grinning to herself, Korra studied the Councilman as she crossed her arms underneath her bust. “Aww, Tarrlok. I didn’t know you were such a baby about this stuff.” She cooed all while gently pushing at his shoulder, before another chuckle escaped her. “Do you want some hot cocoa to calm yourself? Or some tea?” She asked sardonically, but Tarrlok merely glanced at her in deadpan with a pout tugging at his lips that made her see the child in him, as odd as that sounded.

“No, and let’s forget this ever happened, okay?” He said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and watching a couple behind them exit the haunted temple, giggling.

Strangely enough, Korra patted the man’s shoulder, before he unconsciously made a move towards the food stand selling milk tea. Smiling, she shook her head. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” But then an idea formed. If he was already a baby when it came to this, she had to wonder if he was the same in regards to those scary movers Asami told her about. A mischievous smile curled at the corners of her lips. “Actually, have you heard of these new types of movers?”

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Happy Halloween, everyone! It’s my favorite holiday so I wanted to do something cute with them :)


End file.
